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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 2:41 am
Time: 2:41 am
Results for sugarcane
1 results foundAuthor: KnowTheChain Title: How food and beverage companies tackle forced labor risks in sugarcane supply chains Summary: Sugarcane is one of the largest agricultural commodities in the world. It can be found in everyday food items such as cereals, yogurts, and ready-made pizzas, and in beverages such as soft drinks, sports drinks, and flavored coffees. Sugarcane is typically manually harvested, often by migrants and rural workers with little education-in Brazil, more than 25% of the rural population work in sugarcane supply chains. Sugarcane workers face hazardous working conditions, long working hours in isolated workplaces, low wages, and even forced labor. Food and beverage companies face major risks in sourcing sugarcane, given this commodity has been found to be produced by forced labor in Brazil and India, the two largest sugarcane producers in the world. This case study assesses how a sample of 10 companies address forced labor risks across their sugarcane supply chains, finding that, while some companies have assessed risks and set targets, all companies in the case study need to improve significantly-in particular to provide grievance mechanisms and remedy. For the purpose of this report, the term "sugar" has been used where sources refer to sugarcane and may also refer to sugar beets. This study follows KnowTheChain's first food and beverage benchmark completed in 2016, which found a lack of transparency and adequate action to address forced labor in commodity supply chains such as sugarcane, where risks have been documented. We compared the disclosed policies and practices of the 10 companies and examined additional information provided through a questionnaire, which was developed in consultation with global and local stakeholders. Eight of the companies responded to the questionnaire, which represents a notable increase from the 2016 benchmark, when less than half of the companies provided additional disclosure. Key findings on the 10 companies in our case study include: - All companies disclose where at least some parts of their sugarcane supply chains are located. Coca-Cola discloses a map that highlights all sourcing countries for its key commodities. However, the company did not follow through on its commitment from 2013 to disclose the names of all its direct sugarcane suppliers within three years. Wilmar is the only company that discloses a list with names and addresses of its sugar suppliers. - All companies should take concrete follow-up steps at the country level. However, we found steps taken at that level are limited. PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Nestle, and ABF are the only companies making efforts to understand and assess forced labor risks in their sugarcane supply chains at the country level. While most companies have a grievance mechanism in place, it is unclear whether the mechanisms are communicated to and used by suppliers' workers. Further, no company was able to provide an example of remedy provided to workers in their sugarcane supply chains. - Most companies recognize the need to significantly increase their efforts to improve working conditions in their sugar supply chains and have committed to implement or strengthen sustainable sugar sourcing, which includes efforts to prevent forced labor. Notably, Nestle has set time-bound targets for salient labor issues which include, for example, working with suppliers to promote the right of workers to establish and join trade unions. Details: San Francisco: KnowTheChain, 2017. 34p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 6, 2018 at: https://knowthechain.org/wp-content/uploads/KTC-SugarcaneReport-Final_August-2017.pdf Year: 2017 Country: International URL: https://knowthechain.org/wp-content/uploads/KTC-SugarcaneReport-Final_August-2017.pdf Shelf Number: 149721 Keywords: Consumer Products Forced Labor Human Rights AbusesHuman Trafficking Modern Slavery SugarcaneSupply Chains |